Clyde Drexler played with Hakeem Olajuwon at the University of Houston.AP file photo

As a means of generating conversation about the 75th anniversary of the Final Four, the NCAA commissioned a group of experts to compile a list of the greatest players, moments and teams from previous editions of March Madness.

In the form the NCAA released them, however, these lists will work about as well in creating buzz as something like, “Come here often?” might work as a pick-up line.

The official NCAA lists are presented in alphabetical or chronological order. That’s not a debate. That’s a card catalog.

Ah, but Sporting News is here to help. We are endeavoring to rank the NCAA lists in the proper order, starting with the top 75 players in NCAA Tournament history. The rankings specifically regard how the players performed in the NCAAs, and the “nominees” come entirely from the NCAA’s list, which was compiled by the NCAA’s basketball and statistics staffs, in consultation with the organization’s media partners and select members of the United States Basketball Writers Association.

For instance, they excluded Duke’s Jay Williams, Purdue’s Rick Mount and Memphis’ Larry Finch, mistakes we would not have made if we controlled the list. (Keith Smart over Larry Finch? Not ever. But that’s not our call.)

This is, from 1-75:

1. Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), UCLA. He certainly is the greatest player in the college game’s history and the NCAA Tournament’s history. Abdul-Jabbar won three NCAA championships and averaged 30.3 points in the championship games.

2. Christian Laettner, Duke. Laettner did not achieve nearly the NBA success as many on this list, but he is the only one included who reached four Final Fours, won two championships and made game-winning buzzer-beating shots to win two regional championship games.

3. Bill Russell, San Francisco. His defense was not as quantifiable as it would be now. We have all these efficiency metrics and such, and they weren’t even officially counting blocks in his day. And for a supposed non-scorer, he averaged 24.5 points in two championship games. Both of which USF, naturally, won.

4. Bill Walton, UCLA. Walton missed winning three consecutive titles—and finishing higher on this list—when David Thompson and N.C. State put an end to the Bruins’ run of seven consecutive NCAA championships. Walton still won two and delivered the greatest performance in title game history when he hit 21-of-22 from the field against Memphis in 1973.

5. Danny Manning, Kansas. “The Miracles” weren’t nearly as talentless as legend has it. Kevin Pritchard played in the NBA for four years, and Milt Newton was a solid college player. But Manning was every bit as extraordinary as they say. His 31-point, 18-rebound performance title game performance in 1988 was among the most forceful in tournament history.

6. Patrick Ewing, Georgetown

7. Magic Johnson, Michigan State

8. Bob Kurland, Oklahoma State

9. Jerry Lucas, Ohio State. Lucas became a memory expert after leaving basketball, which makes it rather interesting that so many forget how spectacular he was. Lucas played in three consecutive championship games and led OSU to its only NCAA title in 1960.

15. Tom Thacker, Cincinnati. Though he played on a balanced team with several extraordinary players, Thacker stood out by reaching three consecutive title games and winning two, scoring double-figures in the final each time.

22. Anthony Davis, Kentucky. It’s not easy to judge players who only spent a single year in college against those whose careers were much longer. But when the player was this dominant, he must be mentioned prominently.

28. Kemba Walker, Connecticut. It’s easily overlooked that Walker was a key rotation player for a Final Four squad before he became the driving force in what might have ranked as the most improbable of all NCAA titles.

29. James Worthy, North Carolina

30. Isiah Thomas, Indiana

31. Austin Carr, Notre Dame. He owns nearly every significant scoring record in the tournament, except the Final Four mark. He never got that far.

51. Shelvin Mack, Butler. Although Mack was not the best player on the Butler team that came closer to winning the championship, his dominance of an accomplished Pitt defense helped the Bulldogs reach two title games in a row.

75. Keith Smart, Indiana. He made a huge shot, and it belongs on the list of the greatest moments in NCAA Tournament history. But he was probably only the third-best point guard at the 1987 Final Four (behind UNLV’s Mark Wade and Syracuse’s Sherman Douglas). The guy who ran the Providence Friars’ attack, a fellow named Billy Donovan, might argue Smart was only No. 4.

-- Mike DeCourcy, Sporting News. This article originally appeared on SportingNews.com